


Casualties

by RadioactiveRoulette



Series: What Lies Below [8]
Category: Baldur's Gate, Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Drinking, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:22:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27412675
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadioactiveRoulette/pseuds/RadioactiveRoulette
Summary: Cyderi comes to terms with the fact she can't win them all.
Relationships: Astarion (Baldur's Gate)/Original Female Character(s), Astarion/Charname (Baldur's Gate), Astarion/Female Charname (Baldur's Gate)
Series: What Lies Below [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985663
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	Casualties

**Author's Note:**

> Editing on my phone once again, as my laziness wars with my desire to write. -This work may contain spoilers from Baldur's Gate 3.-

"Do not kill them! They can't see us as we are!" Cyderi's voice rings out as she shoves yet another charmed villager away with her shield. 

"Where is the coward?" Wyll's voice answers her own. "They can't be far!"

"If we knew where it was, we wouldn't be having this little problem, would we?" The sneer Shadowheart shoots at the warlock carries in her voice. Her muffled grunt echoes as she successfully downs one of the persistent villagers with her mace. "Not to side with our more roguish elements, but I don't know how much more we can pull our blows and survive this fight."

Sweat drips down Cyderi's temple as she views the chaos in front of her. "We can't kill these people, so get it out of your head and help me put them down!"

"We should leave, call reinforcements!" Wyll's desperation breaks through his confident tone.

Gale's voice cuts across the fray. "The only options we'd have are Lae'zel and Astarion. The probability of murder increases significantly if either of them are involved." A firebolt whips by Cyderi's arm, igniting a nearby assailant. 

"No fire, Gale!" Cyderi focuses, dousing the man in water. 

"Right, Sorry!"

Arms singing in pain, Cyderi manages to clap two of the villagers' heads together, downing them both in one go and then just as soon as the attack had started, it is over. Spinning to survey the damages she's relieved to see the slow breath from each body - wounded but alive.

The group lowers their weapons, edging closer to the rubble. 

"Find it, before any of them find the will to fight again." Cyderi orders, a sharp edge to her voice. She's had just about enough of these mind controlling bastards. The group spans out, picking apart rubble as they search. Cyderi wipes an arm over her face, sweat smearing across her brow unpleasantly. Reaching in her pack as she walks the perimeter of the downed ship, she chugs a healing potion quickly. They'd come back this way by pure accident, only to be accosted by a group of nearby villagers, a hatred not their own shining in their eyes as they moved to kill. But they'd saved them. These people will see another day, a free day… just as soon as they find and end the mindflayer responsible. 

Cyderi hears Gale's muffled shout before she feels the blade against her neck, and she curses her inattention. Grabbing her assailant by the arm, one hand clasped over the hilt of the blade pressed to her throat, she drops her weight and tilts, throwing the man in front of her. She stumbles a bit with his weight so she shoves with all her strength and the man flies backwards, body already limp. 

She stands, casting a wary glance as she moves forward. The face of her attacker is young, human, and lifeless. She drops to feel a pulse but, no. Nothing. 

Shadowheart chuckles. "Well. So much for non-lethal, hmm?" She mounts her shield to her back, eyes pitying as she nudges the corpse with the toe of her boot.

Cyderi stands without a word and leaves, gaze locked ahead as she purposefully avoids the eyes of her party. She can hear Gale's voice, tactfully berating the other cleric, but she does not slow down. This 'win' was particularly sour; maybe if she'd scoured the wreckage a bit more thoroughly, she'd have found the mindflayer before they'd coerced quite so many people. Maybe the kid back there would have lived to see another day.

It is hours before she actually returns to camp. She's spent most of her time walking, trying to clear her head. When that was woefully unsuccessful, she stopped by the Grove and grabbed two bottles of wine for companionship. She's not tipsy enough to ignore the stares of her companions as she trudges down the ridge. She should be, but she's a slow drinker: a fact she's never disliked about herself until this precise moment. 

She tucks her head, ignoring the group to go sit by the water. Surface water did not have the forbidden allure of the Glimmersea, but it would have to do. Shucking off her boots, she rolls up her pants and steps in, water cool on her skin as she sits gingerly upon the shore. She watches the shore as the sun sets across the water, sipping from her bottle occasionally, wincing with each sip, the wine burning as she swallows. 

A snap of a twig behind her announces company. Cyderi would be foolish to think someone wouldn't seek her out, so the footsteps at her back come as no surprise. She expects Gale or Wyll, come to check on her, come to sympathize and try to draw her back to camp. 

"I do not want comfort."

"Terribly fortunate I don't intend to offer any."

She whips her head around, world spinning for a moment as her gaze adjusts to settle on Astarion.

"What do you want, then? I'm in no mood to be your dinner tonight."

"Yes, I did hear the ever so pained murmuring of our wizard friend over there." Astarion shrugs, gently sitting on a log nearby. "I saw that swill you went stomping through camp with. If you intend to actually continue drinking that piss when I come bearing gifts, I just don't know I could call you friend."

"I don't see that you can, anyway." She mutters, accepting the bottle begrudgingly.

Something passes over Astarion's face, but it is lost as soon as she attempts to decipher it. He smirks. "Fair point, but thus far you've proven yourself amusing company. I'd hate to sour my taste for you over your poor excuse of a palate."

Her frown deepens as she takes a swig of Astarion's wine, loathe though she is to admit it a significant improvement from her previous bottle. She studies him, eyes squinting as she focuses. "Where'd you find this?" He plucks it delicately from her hand, taking a drink. 

"A gentleman must have some secrets, surely." 

His lingering smirk has her on edge. "You nicked it, didn't you."

"Of course." That infuriating smile widens at her obvious frustration. "The goblins clearly stole from people with excellent taste."

She could wipe that smirk from his face, she remembers doing so in one dream or another. He slides to the ground, back leaning against the log, waving a hand at her. Making up her mind quickly, she stretches to reach the bottle but he leans just out of reach, amusement rising as she pouts. He takes another swig, watching her with a quirked brow.

"Share."

"Hmm. I'm not entirely sure i want to anymore, this is rather good wine." He smirks, eyes dancing playfully over her answering frown. 

"Fine, we'll play your way." Shifting her weight easily she twists up into a crouch. As expected, he leans away as Cyderi closes the distance, so she plops down on his thighs, arm wrapping around his neck to keep him in place as she pulls his arm down. She wraps her hand around his, forcing him to bring the drink to her lips. It's easier than expected, and she sits back on his thighs with a self satisfied mirror of his smirk plastered across her face as she traces her lip with a quick dart of her tongue. "See? Is sharing so difficult?" 

"Incredibly." His voice is softer, eyes locked onto hers as she shifts to settle against him more comfortably, pulling her hair to one side as she exposes her neck to Astarion's hungry gaze. "What happened to not being interested in being a meal?"

"You've proven yourself reasonably distracting thus far, so continue to distract me." 

"I am an expert at distraction, as it so happens. What did you have in mind?"

"You feed. And then I sleep." Cyderi shrugs, bringing her face closer to his as she finds herself staring at his mouth, she swallows, voice thick when she continues. "Uncomplicated."

Astarion watches her for a moment. "You're entirely too complicated already." She pins his arm behind his head before he can shift her out of his lap. 

She flashes a brilliant smile. "What was it you called yourself? The most powerful vampire in all the realms?" She drags her gaze over him. "How can you make such declarations when you won't even claim a meal."

He growls, weaving fingers through her hair and exposing her throat more fully with a tug. "You are tempting, as always." He clears his throat, releasing her suddenly. "How fortunate you are that I've already satiated my hunger today." His voice is different somehow, distant. Removed. 

Cyderi pulls back, huffing. "A true pity." She considers, glancing about the camp. Muttering to herself, she moves to stand. "I suppose I'll have to find something or someone else to exhaust me tonight then."

Astarion's grip finds her knee, halting her as a scowl flashes across his face. He quickly arranges his features into mild annoyance. She catches the fleeting expression, curious but unwilling to pry. His voice is light when he speaks, lilting pleasantly. "After I've shared my wine? Darling, I'm hurt."

She snorts, unimpressed. "Oh? I see no wounds." She shrugs, settling across his thighs once more as her fingers idle on the lacing of his doublet. She finds her mind lingering on her most recent dream and the deftness with which she'd unlaced this very shirt. She clenches a fist, forcing her hand away. "I dare say you'll survive this particular encounter." She scowls, abruptly standing to face the water's edge. She's still far too sober for this, it seems. 

Astarion stands, walking towards the bank. She can feel his eyes on her back, but he remains blessedly silent. She feels a hand nudge hers, and accepts the offered bottle. Taking another swig, she stares at the water flowing swiftly by, unwilling or unable to break the stiff silence enveloping her. She may drown in it. She may not care. 

"I nearly killed you, you know." Astarion's voice is softer than usual, the teasing cadence faint enough she could near ignore it, if she wanted to. She finds she doesn't. She shoots him a look, prompting him to get on with it. He takes his sweet time, releasing her fingers from the wine to pull it back to his lips before continuing. "Twice, actually. If we're keeping tally." His fingers brush her neck over the now faint marks. 

"So? Do you have a point?"

He laughs, deep and genuine. "None at all. Perhaps I simply like holding that over your head." 

She spins to face him, ire raised but voice sweet when she speaks. His hand trails with her movement to transition smoothly from her neck to her jaw. She leans into the caress, blinking at him innocently. "How many times have I saved you in battle, I wonder... more than two, if I had to wager?" She traces the gold threads of the shirt, fingers picking gently at the fraying strands before traveling to drag a finger along the line of his jaw.

"I suppose." 

"Then it seems I've held your life in my hands far more frequently." 

Astarion hums, eyes calculating. "Do you have a point?" 

"None at all, I simply like holding that over your head." She smiles, plucking the bottle back out of his hand to drain it, reveling in the dark stare he gives her in return. Mood somewhat lifted, Cyderi shoots him an exaggerated wink as she walks back to the central camp, hips swaying a bit as she goes. "Goodnight Astarion." 

**Author's Note:**

> Two things here - operator error. I somehow skipped the fight with the mindflayer victims in the crash site, and only when retracing steps later on did I actually happen across it. That's on me. 
> 
> I did however try to save those poor fishermen by knocking them out, but Cyderi shoved one to avoid an opportunity attack... and he glitched through the floor and it acted like he'd fallen off a ledge.  
> She's too powerful.


End file.
